Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Advances to MIVA Semifinals
April 23, 2005 | Men's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. – After starting very slowly in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association quarterfinals, the Ball State men's volleyball team awakened to defeat the Mercyhurst Lakers 3-1 (26-30, 31-29, 30-18, 30-22) Saturday evening at Worthen Arena and advance to the semifinals against Ohio State.
The opening game was the first that BSU (17-14) had dropped to Mercyhurst (10-14) all season, after winning the first two meetings by scores of 3-0. In the second game, the teams matched each other shot-for-shot before the Lakers committed two straight errors to even the match at one game apiece.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in game three and stretched that to 23-15 when head coach Joel Walton substituted Arturo Rivera into the match. Rivera went on a serving tear, leading Ball State to six straight points. A Mercyhurst error eventually gave BSU its second game of the match.
Lakers' middle blocker Dan England opened the fourth game with five straight service points, but the Cardinals fought back until the game was tied 15-15. Mark Rumschik served out the final three points of the match – all three ending on attack errors by Mercyhurst's Dave Schmidl.
A 2005 All-MIVA Second Team honoree, Nick Meyer notched a match-high 22 kills on a .500 attack percentage. Zoran Grabovac added nine kills and Luis Castera followed with eight of his own to help the BSU offensive attack, while Dave Carlson totaled 41 assists.
For the match, Ball State hit .236 and Mercyhurst totaled a .254 attack percentage. The Cardinals combined for a .931 serving percentage on seven aces and only eight errors, compared to Lakers' .720 serving percentage with four aces and 28 errors.
Grabovac paced the squad with two solo blocks and seven block assists, while three players – Meyer, Carlson and Andrew Braley – each notched four block assists. Evan Berg, an All-MIVA First Team member, tied for a match-high nine digs with Schmidl of Mercyhurst.
The third-seeded Cardinals, ranked 15th in the nation, will take on the second-seeded and 11th-ranked Buckeyes Friday, April 29 at Loyola-Chicago's Alumni Gym. Match time is still to be determined.
